


Ibaadat Ki Tarah (Tujhe Yaad Kar Liya Hai)

by svgasuga



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ATLAofColor, F/F, Mild Language, No Plot/Plotless, Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Songfic, Suki is a Dork, hmm a love letter to the moon, i am once again waxing poetic about yue oops, i am once again writing a songfic with no plot, uhhh once again there is no plot, yueki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svgasuga/pseuds/svgasuga
Summary: [Yue isn’t a waterbender, and Suki is confused.]Suki's feelings about Yue.Inspired by Aayat from Bajirao Mastani.
Relationships: Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Suki & Yue, Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 42
Collections: Legends of Kolor (A collection of ATLA and LOK fics written by POC)





	Ibaadat Ki Tarah (Tujhe Yaad Kar Liya Hai)

**Author's Note:**

> I strongly suggest listening to Aayat from the Bajirao Mastani soundtrack before/while reading this. [Here's a translation of the lyrics, if you'd like!](https://www.filmyquotes.com/songs/350)
> 
> I wrote this up super quick because it was Election Night, and I live in the United States. So. I'm not entirely sure if it all makes sense but here's something for Yueki Nation <3
> 
> This wasn't proofread, so all mistakes are mine! Oopth
> 
> Let me know if there's anything I need to tag.

मेरे दिल की राहतों का तू ज़रिया बन गयी है

_The peace that my heart needs, you’re a source of that_

* * *

Yue isn’t a waterbender. 

Suki is fully aware of this fact. 

It’s fine; she’s a nonbender too. She’s not going to judge someone on their ability–or lack thereof–to control the elements.

Yue isn’t a waterbender, and Suki is confused.

Well, not _confused._ She knows how the world works, how the spirits bless some people with certain abilities and inclinations that other people don’t get. 

She’s just confused about how some people say that Yue can’t control an element when it feels like every molecule in Suki’s body is drawn to the way that Yue laughs; when every inch of Suki feels like it’s glowing just from the light in Yue’s smiles; when every fiber of Suki’s being is pulled toward Yue like she’s the moon controlling Suki’s tides. 

It says a lot when an Earth Kingdom girl, strong and stubborn like the Kingdom’s namesake, is reducing herself into a puddle because of something as flighty as _love._

She’s not surprised, not really. This isn’t the first time she’s been swayed by someone from the Water Tribes. It’s second nature, now, to admire the strength and beauty with which Sokka and Yue both carry themselves with. 

It’s ironic that Suki happened to fall in love with both symbols that the Water Tribes happen to revere. If Yue was the moon, a commanding presence with a tranquil sense of grace, then Sokka was the ocean, mapping out his path in the world then striking with confidence. They were both vastly different people that complemented each other in the right ways.

Maybe it’s weird to have fallen in love with her ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend. It’s not a _normal_ situation. But then again, nothing about their lives was ever really _normal._ They were children of war growing up in a world that only knew violence. Their hearts were beating with the anxiety of never making it out of the war alive. Their relationships revolved around the idea that they’d never see each other again, and if they did, their reunions were only temporary. They lived in a world where spirits were exclusive about who they’d help and who they’d ignore in a plight of war. Sokka and Yue’s relationship was eclipsed by the Siege of the North and her own relationship with Sokka was driven by chance encounters and dumb luck. That’s not to say their love was never real, but the circumstances were–are–different.

_They’re so different._

Her and Sokka’s relationship was a connection of equals; she knew his mind just as well as she knew her own. Their hearts beat the same, but their heartbeats weren’t driven by each other. They were passionate about each other, but it was erratic in a way that would inevitably cause them to make like spark rocks and catch on fire. After a bit of training on both of their ends, their sparring matches became a rehearsed dance that felt like second nature. There wasn’t any guesswork on how to talk to him or how to read his expressions, she didn’t need to ask how his day went because she could predict everything from the pinch of his brows or the set of his jaw. After the war had officially ended, things just… fizzled out. They were still best friends, and they would _always_ be. Sokka was a mirror of herself; from the intelligence in his eyes, the versatility in his swordsmanship, and the strategic thinking that only came from living a life of war. Unfortunately, they both became tired of having to look into the mirror every night and every morning and every moment in between. Their relationship wasn’t the same anymore, now that there were no viable threats trying to tear them apart. Neither of them were really surprised at the break up, and neither of them were too upset either. Their relationship, regardless of whether it was romantic or platonic now, was strong enough to survive this.

A few months down the line was when the similarities between them got _really weird._

It all happened really fast: Appa landed on Kyoshi Island with a big _huff_ of fur and soon enough Sokka was shoving a _really pretty girl_ into her arms. Before she could even land a greeting towards Sokka and Katara and _pretty girl,_ Sokka began on his tirade about the spirits and she knew she wouldn’t be able to get a word in. She was trying _really hard_ to pay attention to whatever he was saying about the Spirit World and how his ex-girlfriend–who used to be the _Moon_ –was back in their world but _holy shit_ his ex-girlfriend was pretty. 

Yeah. She wants to make out with a Moon Spirit, too.

Katara then got around to explaining Northern Water Tribe customs and _that’s_ when Suki decided to step in. 

“If she wants to learn to fight, she could stay on Kyoshi and I– _we_ could teach her a little something?” And then Suki realised that their whole problem stemmed from other people making decisions for Yue without her input in the first place, so she turned to Yue and _wow_ she was hit with _eyes_ and _hair_ and _face._ “I–Hi. Do you want to? Learn with the Kyoshi Warriors? I’m Suki! The leader. Of the warriors. But–uh. You probably already know that. So.” 

Okay, _wow._

What the fuck was that? She must have spent too much time around Sokka or Zuko or _someone_ because that did _not_ just come out of her mouth. One glance at a pretty girl after months of being single and that’s what happens?

Sokka looks over at her with an amused grin and she wants to smack herself. She wants to run, she wants to _hide_ –

Pause. 

Apparently the spirits have it out for Suki (or maybe they’ve blessed her?) because her face is _burning._

Yue now stands in front of Suki with her hand covering her mouth, and she’s giggling. 

Yue’s _giggling._

Suki’s face is _on fire._

Apparently Yue has an affinity for the awkward, because now she’s grinning at Suki and telling her she’d be honored to train with the Kyoshi Warriors. The sun–Agni, as Zuko says–is burning bright above all of them, but Suki thinks that Yue’s smile is the most blinding thing she’s ever seen. 

And that was that. 

Suki wasn’t sure how to describe how her and Yue’s relationship has shifted since then. There’s a lot of ocean and moon analogies she could use but her speaking tangibly doesn’t seem to be a _thing_ around Yue, so she’s not going to try. 

It’s been a year since Yue first came to the island, and things have changed drastically. Yue’s still tender, kind, compassionate Yue, but she’s so much more than that. Having been born a princess, Yue already had a certain level-headedness and confidence instilled in her; training alongside the Kyoshi Warriors not only made her more self-assured, but it allowed Suki to understand what this whole _Moon Spirit_ and _waterbending_ business was all about. 

(They were Earth Kingdom girls through and through, regardless of their bending status. It showed in every way they practiced their forms, rigidity and structure with a dash of stubbornness that only the Earth itself could replicate. Aside from the occasional chi-blocking practices, their forms stayed the same, each warrior looking as precise and accurate as Suki had taught them. Thus came her surprise when she watched Yue practice for the first time. Although Yue never formally studied waterbending, all the forms that Suki had taught her were executed with movements that could only remind her of the ocean; slow and careful on the uptake and harsh and striking in its final form, unyielding in its foundations but flowing through each movement.)

Watching Yue determinedly practice the forms that were taught to her, Suki suddenly understood why the ocean followed every movement that the moon asked of them. 

Suki suddenly understood the unwavering loyalty the waters had towards the moon, and she finally understood resolute dedication that La had to Tui. 

Yue isn’t a waterbender, and she was no longer physically the moon, but Suki still felt every sense of the Moon Spirit that she embodied, drawn to her like the strongest tides at midnight were drawn to magnetic lunar pulls. 

She was drawn to her even when they weren’t physically together. 

Sometimes, at night, Suki looks up at the moon and wonders how she got lucky enough to bask in Yue’s human glory instead of having to rely on stray patches of moonlight like Sokka had to for all that time. 

At night, Suki looks up at the moon and feels her breaths sync up with the ocean, the air in her lungs being pushed and pulled from in and out of her like the moon decided that it needed to be an airbender, too. 

Suki lies awake at night and memorises the craters on the moon the same way she memorises the look in Yue’s eyes whenever she talks about home. It’s become a habit, really; to look at the moon, to look at Yue, in the same type of reverence that people would normally use on the other spirits, like the Painted Lady from that one Fire Nation colony Sokka and Katara told her about. 

For some reason, now that Yue’s a _human_ , people don’t look at her the same way anymore. It’s ridiculous, in Suki’s humble opinion. How can you not worship a girl whose laugh is more magical than twinkling moonlight itself? How can you look at someone like Yue and not want to venerate the very ground that she walks on for the sole reason that it’s been blessed by her?

It’s weird, when they finally get together. Not a bad weird, but Suki thought that her heart would beat on levels that would legally require it to be classified as an explosive, she thought her veins would light themselves on fire, she thought the Earth would open up and give them refuge. 

None of those things happen. 

Instead, Suki feels peace. For once in her life, she feels like the world around her has stood still. All her life, her island pointedly stayed away from a war that the rest of the world died fighting. Her teen years were spent travelling the world, getting caught up in prison, and blowing up airships. She thought love would feel like that too. It did, with Sokka. It felt like everything was exploding all the time at all times and she would never know if she would make it out okay until she was an ocean away from signs of trouble. Life felt like she was a step away from death and every step she took felt _so important all the time._

But the second Yue took her hand and kissed her on the cheek, she felt peace. She feels peace when they lie across each other’s laps at night, stargazing, moongazing, gazing into each other’s eyes. The peace that her heart needed, Yue was a strong source of that. She feels the same way that the ocean feels when the moonlight refracts on its surface. 

She looks towards Yue, and sees everything she’s ever seen in her dreams. She sees the way that the moon shines on her skin, and the way her eyes twinkle with the stars as if they’re still suspended together in the sky. She memorises the way Yue’s cheek dimples into a smile, as if the spirits themselves kissed her and left their mark. She memorises her like Yue is a habit she’ll never break, not that she’ll ever want to. 

Yue isn’t a waterbender. 

Suki’s fully aware of this fact.

And yet, Suki’s a devotee to Yue like the oceans are to the moon. 

* * *

इबादत की तरह, तुझे याद कर लिया है।

_Like a prayer, I’ve memorised you._

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it! If you did, feel free to leave a kudos and/or a comment! 
> 
> I'm still super nervous about fic-writing, so please be nice <3 lol
> 
> [Here's where I got the Hindi text from (including bits of my own limited knowledge)!](https://lyricsmile.com/arijit-singh-aayat-song-lyrics/)
> 
> [My tumblr: @svgasuga](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/svgasuga)


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